


What Else?

by gutsandglitter



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-16 17:02:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1354990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gutsandglitter/pseuds/gutsandglitter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after "Institutional Memory" in the moments after Danny asks "What else?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Else?

"What else?"

What else was there?

She could turn around and walk out the door, return to her exhausting comfort zone behind four inches of bullet-proof glass at the White House where she would work sixteen hour days and have monthly nervous breakdowns until she repeated Leo's fate, dying of a heart attack at age 56 alone in a hotel room somewhere. 

Or

She could walk across the room and wrap her arms around Danny. They would kiss, he would say something charming, then he would lead her back to his bedroom where he would make love to her so tenderly that she would cry. She would call Franklin Hollis early the next morning to accept the job while Danny would push a cup of too-strong coffee into her hands and plant a kiss on each of her temples.

They would fly out to California at the same time Josiah Bartlet would take his last ride in Air Force One. They would buy a small house in Santa Monica just a five minutes' walk from the pier. Danny would get a job working for the LA Times, CJ would learn the fine art of telecommuting. Her father would pass away and they would fly back to Ohio for the funeral; Danny would refuse to let go of her hand the entire time they would be there.

Back in California they would take cooking classes together, make couples friends. CJ would accidentally get pregnant, leading to a tasteful shotgun wedding ceremony in their backyard. Jed would walk her down the aisle. 

She would have her baby girl a week before the due date. They would name her Evelyn Abigail Concannon, and Danny would be surprised by CJ's decision not to hyphenate. They would move to a bigger house with a large backyard that would be closer to the good schools. 

Evie would excel at school and be the brightest in her class while CJ would accidentally become president of the PTA. Danny would get diagnosed with high cholesterol and struggle to cut out red meat. 

Sam Seaborne would be elected president and beg CJ to come work for him. She and Danny would fight tremendously and he would spend a week sleeping on the couch. She would turn down the job.

Evie would graduate at the top of her class and get a full-ride to Georgetown where she would study Political Science. Danny would retire from the LA Times so that he could focus all of his attention on writing a biography about Jed Bartlet. The book would win the Pulitzer Prize.

Evie would fall in love with the president of the Georgetown debate club and marry him the summer after graduation. CJ and Danny would dance til dawn at the wedding and spend the rest of the next day in their king-size hotel bed. 

CJ would retire after the birth of her third grandchild and take up working in her garden. She and Danny would live out their golden years quietly and pass away together in their sleep.

The choice was hers.

CJ took several deep breaths before crossing the short distance between herself and Danny. She laced the fingers of her left hand with the fingers of his right.

"Let's jump off a cliff together," she said quietly.


End file.
